Kabul (Afghanistan):Taliban patrolled Kabul and tried to project calm after toppling the Western-backed government after they swept the capital on Sunday. The country's Western-trained security forces collapsed in a matter of days, even before the withdrawal of the last bunch of U.S. troops. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing a stunning end to a two-decade campaign in which the U.S. and its allies had tried to transform Afghanistan.
Taliban takes over tense Kabul, after winning over Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul's abandoned presidential palace. Fearful that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights, thousands of Afghans are trying to flee the country through Kabul's international airport.
Read: Chaos as people running around in Kabul airport to board flights
Helicopters raced overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. In the capital itself a tense calm set in, with most people hiding in their homes. There were scattered reports of looting and armed men knocking on doors and gates. The Taliban freed thousands of prisoners as they swept across the country and the police melted away.
The Taliban deployed fighters at major intersections and sought to project calm, circulating videos showing quiet city streets. Kabul is a built-up city, home to five million people, where luxury vehicles and SUVs struggle to push through endemic traffic jams. Many of the younger Taliban fighters hail from rural areas without electricity or running water and are getting their first glimpse of a modern city they had only previously heard stories about.
(AP)
